Including Students with Deafblindness in Large Scale Assessment Systems

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Why Should Students with Deafblindess Be Included in Large Scale Assessment Systems?

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Reference Materials

Interdisciplinary Human Development Institute

Download Louisiana's School and District Accountability System Policies (Jan. 1999)

  Louisiana's Assessment Policy for Students with Disabilities

  Criteria for Participating in the Alternate Assessment

  Information on Completing the LEAP Alternate Assessment  Participation Criteria Form 

  From the Office of Student and School Performance

Louisiana's Policies for Students with Disabilities
All students, including those with disabilities, will participate in Louisiana’s new testing program. Approximately 80% of such students will take the LEAP 21 and The Iowa Tests (with accommodations if required by their individualized education plan, or IEP). The remaining 20% or so are those with very significant disabilities, and they will take an alternate assessment (as required by their IEP).

The scores of every student who is eligible to take the LEAP 21 and The Iowa Tests will be included in the calculation of the School Performance Score.

During the summer of 1999 for K-8 schools and summer of 2001 for 9-12 schools, each school will receive two School Performance Scores as follows:

• a score including only regular education students (including gifted, talented, speech-impaired only, and 504 students).
• a score including regular education students AND students with disabilities (only those students with disabilities eligible to participate in LEAP 21 and The Iowa Tests). 
  

[Note: Within the State Accountability System, the terms "students with disabilities" or "special education students" do not include gifted, talented, speech impaired only, or 504 students. "Regular education" students, therefore, include all regular education, gifted, talented, speech- impaired only, and 504 students.]

For purposes of determining Academically Unacceptable Schools, during the summer of 1999 for K-8 schools and during the summer 2001 for 9-12 schools, the School Performance Score that includes only regular education students will be used. 

For all other purposes, including establishing each school’s Growth Target, the School Performance Score inclusive of students with disabilities will be used as the baseline. However, with the acknowledgment that the percentage of students with disabilities among schools varies significantly and that the rate of growth for such students, when compared to regular education students, may be different, two weighted factors are used within the calculation of each school’s Growth Target (see Figure 2 for the specific formula):

1) the percentage of students with disabilities at that school eligible to participate in LEAP 21 and The Iowa Tests as compared to the percentage of regular education students eligible to participate in LEAP 21 and The Iowa Tests; and

2) the number of accountability cycles required for students with disabilities to master the same content as compared to the number of accountability cycles required for students without disabilities.

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LEAP Alternate Assessment Participation Criteria


A student eligible for participation in LEAP Alternate Assessment is one whose IEP reflects significant modifications of the general education curriculum with an emphasis on functional and life skills. A student participating in LEAP Alternate Assessment is progressing toward a Certificate of Achievement. To be eligible for participation in alternate assessment, the response to each of the statements below must be "Agree."   Choices are agree or disagree.

1. The student cannot address the content assessed in statewide assessments, even with extensive accommodations. 

2. The results of the statewide large-scale assessments will not provide or have not provided an accurate assessment of the student’s progress in the student’s educational program. 

3. The student requires extensive instruction in multiple settings to acquire, maintain, and generalize skills necessary for application in school, work, home, and community environments. 

4. Current longitudinal data (e.g., classroom observations, task analyses, progress on IEP objectives, evaluations, and parental information) indicate the student should participate in alternate assessment.  

5. The student’s demonstrated academic/cognitive ability limits his/her capability to complete the FULL requirements of the general education curriculum.  

6. The decision for LEAP Alternate Assessment is not solely based on the student’s disability according to Bulletin 1508.  

7. The decision for LEAP Alternate Assessment is not solely based on the student’s visual and/or auditory disability.   

8. The decision for LEAP Alternate Assessment is not solely based on the student’s emotional-behavioral disability.   

9. The decision for LEAP Alternate Assessment is not solely based on the student’s physical and/or motor disability.   

10. The decision for LEAP Alternate Assessment is not solely based on the student’s learning disability.   

11. The decision for LEAP Alternate Assessment is not solely based on excessive or extended absences.   

12. The decision for LEAP Alternate Assessment is not solely based on social, cultural, and/or economic differences.

13. The decision for LEAP Alternate Assessment is an IEP Committee decision, rather than an administrative decision. 

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Instructions for Completing the LEAP Alternate Assessment Participation Criteria Form

Please note that:

• Participation in alternate assessment is an IEP decision made in cooperation with the parent for the benefit of the child. 
• If an IEP team has documentation that supports the participation of a student with disabilities in LEAP Alternate Assessment instead of regular statewide assessments (CRT and NRT), the IEP team must complete the LEAP Alternate Assessment Participation Criteria form. 

Steps for completing the form:

1. Complete the requested student information at the top of the page.
2. The paragraph in bold print is designed to describe the student for whom this form should be completed. Therefore, this form should be completed only for the student who has an educational program which emphasizes functional and life skills, whose Prior Notice Letter indicates that he/she may be eligible to participate in alternate assessment, and/or whose IEP team determines, after careful review of documentation presented at the meeting, this student should be considered for alternate assessment. 
3. There are 13 statements to which the IEP team must agree; it is important for the team to remember the following when discussing the student: 
   1. The decision for participation is not based on placement, setting, or available educational resources. 
   2. Eligibility for participation is not determined by the disability (e.g., a child with autism may or may not be eligible to participate in alternate assessment.) The student must meet all criteria as listed on the participation form. 
4. Once disagree is circled, there is no need to visit other statements. When the IEP team reads a statement to which they disagree, then they are to move to the "Committee Decision" line that indicates the student is "not eligible."   
5. On the "Committee Decision" line, the student’s name is to be written in the space provided.
6. Participants date, sign their names, and write their positions on the lines provided.
7. The completed LEAP Alternate Assessment Participation Criteria form is to be kept in the student’s IEP file. 

    

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From the Office of Student and School Performance:

Does the accountability system have special consideration for schools with a high percentage of special education students?  Many people are concerned that schools with large percentages of special education students will have difficulty meeting their growth targets. On the other hand, others are concerned that excluding the scores of special education students will result in less attention to instruction of these students. 

After many months of discussion with state and national experts, as well as many classroom teachers, BESE adopted the following policy:

(1) All students, including those with disabilities, will participate in Louisiana’s new testing program. Approximately 80 percent of
students with disabilities will take the LEAP 21 and The Iowa Tests, with accommodations if required by their individualized education plan (IEP). Approximately 20 percent of special education students with very significant disabilities, will take an alternate assessment (not initially included in accountability calculations), as required by their IEP.

(2) The scores of every student eligible to take LEAP 21 and The Iowa Tests will be included in the calculation of the School Performance Score. However, each school’s percentage of special education students will be taken into consideration when establishing a growth target for that school. In addition, the initial identification of Academically Unacceptable Schools will be based upon the test scores of regular education students only. 

This information can be found at LEAP Alternate Assessment

 

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